I want to offer a report on this new mic. I have worked with it a good bit since receiving it in mid December.
It is indeed a strict cardioid pattern with much less sound pick up from 90 degrees and from the back than other cardioid mics. It has tremendous reach as I found out when I ended up placing it 8 feet away from a soprano. It has a beautiful rich quality that one does find in large diaphragm mics. It is forgiving in the sense that it does not have a bright sound that would emphasize sibilance or give the impression of a hyper detailed sound. (I refer to a bright sound that is irritating because it is un-natural.)
I have not needed to eq the mic with various singers and I can tell that it is very neutral. With strings it is also offering a very appealing pick up.
Until I have used it for many months, I cannot offer a final view. However, I know mics very well and this new one is offering a stellar sound.
For the person who wondered why one sees vocalists with two (or more) mics on them. It is often so that one can record the singer in stereo and then "place them in the stereo picture" by panning, for example, one mic hard left and the other mic at 10 o'clock. The singer's voice then "floats" in between the loudspeakers and this mic technique avoids a "pasted on" voice that sounds too mono and ruins the stereo picture.
